ˈɡʌvɚn ˈɡʌvən ˈɔːdə ˈɔɹdɚ ˈɹɛɡjəlɚaɪz ˈɹɛɡjəleɪt direct or strongly influence the behavior of His belief in God governs his conduct bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations We cannot regulate the way people dress This town likes to regulate exercise authority over; as of nations Who is governing the country now? require to be in a certain grammatical case, voice, or mood most transitive verbs govern the accusative case in German